


Legs or Tails?

by Chou_cosplay



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Banter, Bonding, Bottom Eren Yeager, Courtship, Drowning, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Grisha Yeager's Bad Parenting, Homophobia, Human Eren Yeager, M/M, Marine Biologist Hange, Mates, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Merfolk AU, Mermaids, Merman!Levi, Mermen, Mermen AU, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Promise, Sassy Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Seme Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Slow Build, Top Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Uke Eren Yeager, alternative universe merfolk, lots of smut, merfluff, mermaid!Isabel, merman!Farlan, mermen and mermaids, we will get there, yesispellhimfarlan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2018-12-26 04:40:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12051516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chou_cosplay/pseuds/Chou_cosplay
Summary: Eren was searching frantically, not caring about the urgent need of his body to dive up and get more air, too lost in the desperate thoughts of not being able to retrieve what he held so dear.He had to find it. He just had to. It was the last thing he had from her. His last memento. He couldn't afford to lose it. Not now.On the verge of tears he took another breath of air and dove again. And again and again, not listening to his body screaming with exhaustion, urging him to stop this madness and rest. If only he had listened to his body...Eren’s horrified eyes watched as the last few lifesaving bubbles of air rose up to the surface, his body screaming with the desperate need for oxygen. And all he could do was scramble to comply before he began to fall. He fell further and further into the darkness, until it threatened to swallow him whole - too lost to sense the strong arms wrapping around his waist and carrying him back to the glimmering surface shaded by dim moonlight.my first attempt at a Mermen AU for those wondering





	1. Burned

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guuys~~
> 
> So i really really love mermen AU's and FF's and after re-reading Dark Waters by Corporal_Levi_cleans_my_house for like the 3rd time i just decided to go for it. 
> 
> This work is un-beta'd and English is not my native language so forgive me if i make any major mistakes >< Please let me know what you think or how you liked it and yeah, i hope you enjoy ;)
> 
> Also, [you can follow me on tumblr if you want to. ](http://choucosplay.tumblr.com)

Eren was desperate. Frantic even. 

He was pacing back and forth on the edge of the smoothened stones that dropped into the lurking depths of the ocean. The dark pool of water stared up at him tauntingly; the waves crashing eerily calm against the steep looking decline of rock formation that they swallowed up. There was no way to tell how deep it truly was or if his next step would take him into its frigid depths – never to return again. 

He glanced around the cave anxiously; shining the beam of his flashlight around and lighting up the path of jagged stones where he had come from. The cave was built into the gray rock of the cliffs. The stones guarding the entrance were rugged and uneven, making it hard to spot the entrance to an untrained or unknowing eye. But Eren knew every outline of the cliffs from memory, having played in these parts often as a child – much to the chagrin of his mother. 

Mom…

Tears threatened to spill over his cheeks again and a small hiccup left his shaking lips at the memory of his more than loving mother and why he had actually come to this murky cave. He had to find it.. h-hee… he just had to… i- it was the last thing he had from her.. .and … a-and…

A loud sob echoed through the wall as his mind replayed his father’s harsh words.

_“I will not have a goddamn faggot for a son! You are a disgrace!! Fucking disgusting… You are no son of mine. Get the fuck to your room and don’t you dare show me your face again!!”_

The image of his father’s screaming face contorted with overflowing rage and disgust popped up in his mind and he couldn’t help the shaky sob that escaped his body. 

He hadn’t meant to come out to his father... it had all been an accident. His friend Jean had joked around and teased him openly about his sexuality without knowing that his dad had no freaking clue. 

It wasn’t like he had kept it a secret from everyone. All of his friends knew and were cool with it. But he had never dared to tell his father – fearing the exact reaction that he had received a mere hour ago. 

Eren was sure that Jean hadn’t meant to spill his secret to his father – he didn’t even know that it _was_ a secret. But then again it had happened and it all had gone to shit afterwards. Nothing he had said or wanted to say had helped. His father hadn’t been listening. And now he probably never would. 

But he had never imagined Grisha to be so cruel. He knew how much the key meant to Eren. He knew exactly that it was the last thing he had as a keepsake from Carla and how much Eren treasured it; constantly wearing it around his neck as not to lose it. 

Only for it to be ripped away by his own father’s hands and thrown into the cold depths of the ocean he loved so much. 

_“You don’t deserve anything from her you hear me? You disgrace her! You disgrace this house and our name. You disgrace ME! Get the fuck away from me you disgusting little shit and don’t let me see your face again!”_

He had watched the key sink into the water, his last memento of his Mom being swallowed by the one place where he felt closest to her. Their shared love for the ocean was what had let him to explore the cave he was standing in right now, knowing that it was the nearest place he could dive from to reach the point where he had watched the necklace sink without going directly from the small beach their house was built on. 

He didn’t want to get his… his _father’s_ attention, not when he was so angry and disappointed in him. And he was literally just disobeying his direct order to stay in his room and not come out. Well… technically speaking he wasn’t showing him his face but still... if his father heard the splashing then he would surely receive more than just a verbal beating. 

He glanced one last time at the cold stone walls of the cave. Small, loose stones littered sparsely on the floor, most of them already having been carried away by the current of the sea when the tide came high. 

Eren tried to even out his breathing and calm down as much as he possibly could with his current mindset. His thoughts were a complete and utter mess. He had no idea how to face his father or what would happen to him the coming morning. But one fact he was certain of; he would retrieve his mother's key - it was the only thing that could give him hope to get through all of this. He needed this. He needed his Mom with him – and if it was the last thing he would do. 

He took off his shirt, shoes and pants until he was standing clad in nothing but his underwear at the edge of the pool. One hand still grasped the flashlight tightly, thanking silently whoever had thought it a good idea to buy a waterproof one. His plan would have been doomed otherwise. 

Eren knew that the underwater entrance to the cave would lead him outside but it had been a long time since he had made the journey through there – and only having done so during the daylight, when he could actually _see_ where he was swimming. 

But if he didn’t do this now, his chances of retrieving his mother’s necklace slimmed even further. 

Taking a deep breath and trying to steel his mind on his task as much as he possibly could, he cautiously climbed into the water. 

The water was cold; stealing the heat from his body quickly as he took his time getting into it. Realizing that there was no point in beating around the bush he let himself drop down into the murky shadows, submerging his head before diving up again to take a new lungful of air. 

The pool was not only broad but deep, deeper than he had remembered it. Eren could easily swim a few lengths around in the cold water, trying to get his body adjusted to the rather frigid temperature. 

Once he was remotely comfortable he started diving – at first only in the cave itself, mapping out the underwater part of it and the distance to the tunnel that let outside; trying to gauge how far the dive would be. After a few trips down he decided that this was as good as it was going to get. Taking a deep breath of air he plummeted into the misty depths and started swimming with all the strength and speed he had. 

He couldn’t make out much due to the lack of light down here but then again he was too focused on finding the way out and to air again. The stony tunnel winded to the right for a little bit and just when he thought that he would have to turn back because his air was running out, he saw the tunnel widen. A few strong strokes later he found himself at the other side of the underwater entrance. When he let his body momentarily relax with relief at having found the exit, he suddenly felt something slimy touch his ankle and was barely able to suppress the yelp that would have cost him much precious air. 

Quickly glancing upwards he could see the soft light of the moon filtering in through the top layers of the water and without a second thought he started swimming upwards. After a few seconds he breached the surface, gasping loudly and gulping down the air like a drowned man. The trip from the cave had taken him longer than he had expected and his air supply had run dangerously low. 

He took a few moments to catch his breath, paddling with his feet to keep himself upright before looking down into the water again. This was pretty much where he would estimate the necklace to be - given the current of the water and where his father had thrown it. 

The water was quite deep where he currently was and the dive down would take quite a bit of air. He would most likely have to do multiple trips and wouldn’t be able to search for long each time since he could only hold his breath for so long. 

He braced himself and took another deep breath before diving down towards the bottom of the ocean. When he reached the sandy grounds he desperately flashed his light around, trying to see if the light would catch and reflect something glittering lying around on the ocean floor. Much to his dismay he didn’t see anything and before he knew it he had to start swimming back up to the surface. 

Not giving up so quickly he dove down again. And again and again after that. 

No matter how many times he dove down, he couldn’t find the key and with each time he dove he felt his time on the ground getting cut shorter and shorter. Exhaustion was taking a toll on his body from the constant strain of having to dive and hold his breath for prolonged periods of time. But he couldn’t give up. If he didn’t find it now, he would never find it. 

On the verge of tears he took another breath of air and dove again. This time searching closer to the plant life nearby the underwater entrance to the cave. Maybe the current had carried it this far after all? 

Eren was searching frantically, not caring about the urgent need of his body to dive up and get more air, when he suddenly felt something touch his ankle again. Only this time his exhausted body couldn’t stop himself from the surprised yelp leaving his mouth. Eren’s horrified eyes watched as the few lifesaving bubbles of air rose up to the surface, his body screaming with the desperate need for oxygen. And all he could do was scramble to comply. 

Kicking his arms and feet as quickly and desperately as he could, he tried to reach the surface in time, but he could feel his body starting to tire. His already straining legs were struggling to bring him closer to the shimmering light above him; his muscles tensing, unwilling to cooperate with the one thought that preoccupied his panicking mind. He needed air. He needed to get up there, he needed… needed… 

And then suddenly he could feel himself starting to sink; his heart hammering in terror against his ribs. His head was pounding, every cell in his body screaming for oxygen at this point. He could see dark spots dance in front of his eyes, his thoughts turning fuzzy, everything burning. 

It was ironic, really. There was water all around him and still, it didn’t extinguish the flames inside of him. Not even the cold water rushing into his burning lungs helped with that. Somewhere in the back of his head he knew that his body had betrayed him, that the water filling his lungs symbolized his inevitable doom. But Eren no longer cared. 

The water was weighing him down. Heavy and oppressive. And Eren began to let himself fall. 

He fell further and further into the darkness, until it threatened to swallow him whole. 

****  
Eren woke up coughing and hacking what felt like his entire lungs out. Little spurts of salt water splattered across the stony floor and every time he thought that he had gotten it all out of his system a new coughing fit overcame him. His throat burned, his eyes stung with tears and his body was heaving and shaking. 

It took his disoriented self a few minutes before he started to recognize his surroundings. 

He was lying on the hard floor of the cave where his small adventure had begun. Despite not having his flashlight at hand his eyes had adjusted enough to make out the jagged rock formations that aligned the walls and the outline of the salt water pool that lay before him. 

Letting out another shuddered breath, he forced his shaking body to sit up and hacked up another spurt of water while doing so. Fuck. He had drowned. _He had fucking drowned._

And how had he ended up in this cave? 

There was no way he made it back here by himself – he only remembered the water rushing in before everything went black… But then who had helped him? Or _had_ anybody helped him? 

His mind was foggy, his thoughts unclear and hazy, unable to really focus on anything other than lying down and resting. But he was shivering and freezing cold, so he started to look around for his clothes and shoes that he had deposited here somewhere. Catching sight of them, he crawled his way over to where he had left them, forced himself out of his cold wet boxer briefs and into his dry clothes and shoes. He didn’t particularly feel like dying of hypothermia after almost drowning after all. 

Still shivering, Eren contemplated whether or not he would be able to make it back home right now, only to quickly realize that there was no way he could make it back to his house in his current condition. So he curled up into a tight ball, trying to save as much warmth as possible before the darkness took him once again and this time he let it happen willingly. 

****

Eren woke up the next morning sore all over. His throat _burned_ and the first thing he did when he opened his lids and took in the hard stony floor of the cave was to fall into another coughing fit. 

His entire body felt numb and exhausted, his mind still trying to piece everything together. How had he ended up in this cave when he had clearly drowned outside of the cave entrance? The dive back here took longer than reaching the surface from where he had drowned so did that mean that someone had helped him? But who?

There wasn’t really anyone out there other than the Jaeger’s themselves. Most of the houses weren’t as close to the beach as theirs and no one really wandered out to the beach at night – other than some stupidly romantic couples but he highly doubted that anyone from the beach would have even seen him drown. 

_So who had helped him?_

Eren ran a hand through his damp brown hair and glanced around the cave, trying to find any clues as to who could have possibly helped him. 

The cave was still the same as yesterday evening – only less gloomy now that some rays of sunshine managed to worm their way through the cracks in the stonewalls. The sight was actually quite beautiful and for a small moment Eren allowed himself to drink it all in and become mesmerized by the beauty of it. 

The chirping of seagulls outside however, brought him out of his short reverie and reminded him that it was already morning. He felt a pang of pain in his chest at the thought of his chances of finding his mother’s necklace having diminished even further.

He stared at the now clear blue water of the pool in contemplation. He could see all the way to the mouth of the tunnel that led to the underwater entrance outside now that the sun had risen. The probability of finding the necklace would be higher now that he had better visibility. So should he just try again? What else did he have to lose? 

If his father hadn’t come looking for him by now then he hadn’t realized that he was missing - and going by the lack of angry screams coming from his house he could safely say that that was the case. So this was his only chance. God knew when his father would let him out of the house again after all of what had happened yesterday. 

With renewed determination Eren strode over to the edge of the pool and let himself sink down into the now slightly warmer water. He tested his shaky limbs and still burning throat by inhaling deeply a few times. Fuck, _it hurt_. It hurt so much.

Tears threatened to spill from his reddened eyes again but he subdued the urge quickly by telling himself that this was his only shot. Taking a deep and painful breath of air, he kicked himself off the stone edge towards the tunnel to gain some leverage for the journey to the other side. He could do this. He just needed to focus on his task. He desperately tried to ignore the burning pain in his lungs and throat and had almost reached the end of the tunnel when the itch and pain suddenly became unbearable. Fuck, he needed to cough again. 

Trying his damnedest not to, just wasn’t good enough, his body betraying him once again. He coughed violently – watching once more as the bubbles of air escaped his lips – dooming him to another lovely deep water experience. 

Dread spread through his entire body and locked his muscles in place as he realized that he seemed to be fated to drown in this specific place. 

Fuck this. Just fuck this all. Maybe he would see mom again then. It was at least better than having to face his father who no longer thought of him as a son. 

He was about to close his lids when a flash of something came barreling towards him. He saw a hint of blue and grey flash in the dark tunnel before strong arms wrapped around his waist and almost catapulted him out of the tunnel towards the cave. Everything around him blurred with the speed at which they were travelling and before he knew it he was hoisted and almost thrown onto the cold floor of the cave. 

Eren was too preoccupied with coughing and retching out all the water from his lungs to hear the low growl and angry splashing behind him. 

The icy baritone voice that spoke next however, had him raise his head in surprise; emerald green orbs meeting with narrowed silver ones that sparked with anger and annoyance. 

“Will you stop trying to kill yourself in my goddamn cave for fuck’s sake you shitty brat?”

And if Eren hadn’t been so mesmerized by the gunmetal orbs, angular porcelain features and chiseled abs, he might have noticed the flicker of a blue-greyish tail rising from the pool behind the hot guy he was currently staring at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw sorry for the shitty pun with the title i just couldn't come up with anything and then i thought about this and it works out with what i have in store (also i just suck at titles so yeeah...)


	2. Beautiful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyhey guys, I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack!!
> 
> Finally orz... i actually wanted to finish this chapter last week but since we had 4 birthday's in my family last week, including my own level up so i was quite busy and didn't have time to write T_T. 
> 
> Thanks so much for all the comments, kudos and positive feedback i got for the first chaper <3 i'm really excited to write this and see where it takes my boys :D
> 
> Anywhooo, i hope you guys enjoy this chapter and as usual let me know what you think <3

A part of his brain was registering that his mouth must have been hanging open in slight shock and that staring as intently as he currently was at the raven-haired guy in front of him would be considered rude, but in this very moment Eren’s mind was too preoccupied to even consider social propriety. 

He was quite literally all but gaping at the hot man before him, who weirdly enough was still halfway submerged in the pool. The water was slowly trickling down the toned muscles that adorned the raven Adonis incarnate and Eren couldn’t take his eyes off of how one particular one was trickling down lower and lower, before the sudden heat on his cheeks chastised him for his improper thoughts and his eyes trailed upwards again. Taking in the chiseled cheekbones, refined features and blazing gunmetal orbs that eyed him warily. 

“You done staring yet?” the man spoke again; one of his thin eyebrows raised questioningly, annoyance still heavily laced within the deep smooth baritone voice that addressed him. 

Eren’s cheeks flushed; burning brighter at the comment and he averted his gaze almost instantly, fidgeting nervously with the hem of his shirt. His throat was dry, parched for a different reason now and trying to swallow to find his voice again only had him wince at the sharp pain that shot through him.

“Y-you s-saved me.” 

He hadn’t intended to stutter but hearing his own rasped voice and what drowning had done to him had caught him off guard, losing all the confidence with which he had wanted to thank his savior. 

“No shit Sherlock” the raven retorted, rolling his eyes at him but still keeping them trained on his every move. 

Teal eyes widened for a brief second at the dark-haired man’s crude retort, the guy clearly not very keen on small-talk. But Eren was undeterred. He needed to know why he had bothered to save him… twice he assumed. Not that he wasn’t grateful for it but still, who was around to save the same person _twice in a row_? With only a few hours in between? And how exactly had he brought him back to the cave so quickly? He remembered his lungs filling with the cold ocean water, the dark abyss looming over him frighteningly, threatening to take everything away from him - and how in that very instant a part of him had already accepted his fate. Only to wake up on the cold stony floor of the cave he was currently sitting on. 

Twice. 

And while Eren didn’t remember the first time he had been fished out of the sea, he was certain that for the second time they had swam at an incredible speed, almost humanly impossible. So how had the hot guy done it? And had it even been _him_ the first time around? 

Eren raised his gaze again to look at the other sheepishly. Knowing his voice would fail him if he spoke too loudly he opted for whispering his assumption instead “Twice even…” 

That earned him another eye-roll from the raven in front of him and a sassy “Glad you can count, brat.”

So the guy _had_ saved him twice after all then. But… why? And … how?

Eren couldn’t help but puff his cheeks in indignation when the last part of at the raven’s comment registered “I’m not a brat!” and a bit quieter he added “I’m 18, and I have a name… it’s Eren by the way.”

“Alright, kid.” The raven replied smugly, an annoying but breathtakingly handsome smirk adorning his porcelain features, replacing the almost constant scowl that seemed to be plastered on his face. 

Eren only huffed in frustration at his savior. He had a feeling that there was no point in arguing with the stranger, he would lose the argument anyway and his throat was hurting enough at this point. So instead he opted for staring at him again, his heart pounding slightly at the close proximity to his fantasies come true. 

With his smirk widening slightly, the raven gestured to the corner of his mouth and said with an amused husky voice “There’s drool dripping down there you know?” 

Flabbergasted and with comically wide eyes Eren wiped at his mouth immediately, frantically trying to rid himself of the drool; not even realizing that the raven was fucking with him. Not until a low laughter rumbled through the cavern. 

Mirth danced in the mercury orbs that watched him intently and Eren couldn’t bring himself to glare at the handsome stranger for longer than a few seconds. Not when his laughter made his heart skip a beat. He still crossed his arms and turned his head to the side, effectively pouting at the guy for making fun of him. The raven seemed to know _exactly_ what kind of effect he was having on him and it seemed to amuse him greatly. 

“Hoh, is the brat pouting now?” the raven taunted, earning himself another glare from Eren but that only seemed to entertain him further. 

With a low chuckle he added “It’s Levi.”

“Huh?” 

This time Eren turned around to face him properly, not quite understanding what the other was getting at. 

“My name, brat. It’s Levi.” The raven said, the smirk still tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Oh… oh!! Nice to meet you Levi. And… uhm… thanks for saving me.” Eren added; teal irises meeting liquid silver ones straight on as he tried his hardest to pour every ounce of gratefulness into the statement as he could. 

“Tch. Couldn’t really ignore all the thrashing so close to my cave.” The raven – Levi - grumbled after letting out a loud huff. “But why the fuck did you go in again anyway? As if hauling your sorry ass up the first time hadn’t been enough you just _had_ to go in and almost drown _again_ didn’t you?”

Eren winced at the harsh tone Levi was using, the annoyance once more clear in his voice… but there was something else mixed in there, something Eren couldn’t quite place…

“I was uhm… looking for something important.”

“What could have been more important than your own life?” Levi huffed, one eyebrow quirked upwards again. 

“Uhm... well… uhm…” Eren wasn’t really sure how much he wanted to tell the raven and while yes, Levi had just saved him twice in a row, he didn’t want to impose on him further. And thinking about it from an outside perspective, jumping into the water again after almost drowning the first time to retrieve a memento of his mother seemed _kind of_ suicidal… So instead of answering, he opted for averting his gaze and staring at the glinting reflection of the pool that had spelled his doom only a few hours prior. 

“Don’t hurt yourself there kid. If you don’t want to answer just say so.” Levi interrupted his stuttered attempts of an answer, his voice for once surprisingly gentle. 

Eren gulped again, his eyes still trained on the turquoise water; small ripples twisted the otherwise smooth surface, with what he could only assume to be the movement of Levi’s legs holding him aloft. 

Just then, as his eyes focused on the softly moving water, trying to collect his thoughts and feelings on whether he _wanted_ to tell the raven, he suddenly saw something grey flash in the depths of the pool. 

Was that… was that a _fucking shark_?!

“LEVI!! WATCH OUT!”

Eren’s eyes filled with fear and panic for his new savior and he couldn’t help but scream at him; immediately springing up and lounging himself at Levi, frantically scrambling to get to him as quickly as possible to pull him out of the damn water that was clearly having it out for them. 

But before his outstretched hand could so much as touch the raven, a threatening growl tore through the cave; ending in a snarl emanating from the raven’s chest, low but constant – almost like distant thunder. 

Eren’s eyes widened impossibly further as he took in the sight in front of him. He was staring at elongated sharp teeth, claws that seemed to almost dig into the surface that they touched, each one sharp as a dagger and gunmetal orbs narrowed into wary slits; trailing his every movement with eyes like a hawk. 

But that wasn’t what took Eren’s breath away. Behind Levi there were fins visible. Spread out and flaring with color in what he could only assume to be a threat display. Cerulean and grey hues dancing around and quickly turning into deep scarlet and flaming carmine; blood coloring the thin membranes with vibrant and intimidating colors. 

Levi hissed at him and only the sound of something trashing behind him in the water diverted Eren’s attention away from the hauntingly beautiful and terrifying creature in front of him. Gulping loudly, his eyes flickered to look at what had disturbed the deceptively peaceful surface of the water. 

A tail. _A freaking tail_. 

He only caught the tip of it descending back into the water - but that had undoubtedly been a tail. Levi had a tail. And fins. And… his eyes darted back to Levi’s face, searching his throat for the last thing that would complete the picture. And gills. 

Levi wasn’t human. Levi was… Levi was…

_“Beautiful”_

Now it was the silver orb’s turn to widen in surprise. 

Eren hadn’t even been aware of his own hushed whisper but the other’s keen senses must have clearly picked up on it as his display shifted. His teeth slowly pulled back behind his gums; his posture visibly relaxing; but the breathtakingly beautiful fins were still stretched out on full display. 

None of them said anything as an eerie quiet settled into the cave. Not a sound could be heard, no water dripping or flowing, no current moving it along as neither of them moved. Eren’s arm was still outstretched and reaching for Levi but frozen mid-air due to the more than unexpected circumstances.

There was absolute stillness as Eren’s thoughts raced; trying to process the new information about his savior he had just gained. 

Levi was a merman. An actual merman – and no matter how much a part of his mind was trying to tell him that these creatures _didn’t exist_ , the colorful fins spread out in front of him begged to differ. 

_Mermen existed. And Levi was one of them._

Amazement and wonder danced in viridian irises as his eyes shifted in awe from Levi’s fins back to his face. He wanted to touch the raven. Touch the tiny scales that littered the sides of the raven’s face, the lighter ones even having a striking hint of azure in them.

Now that he was closer to Levi, he could make out so many details that he had first missed. His ears were pointed and in the same shade as the darker scales littering his face; a webbed membrane visible in between the pointed ends of them. The claws that had slightly retracted had the blue-ish membrane in between them as well and there were fins along his body, no doubt to help him with tricky underwater maneuvers. Levi’s gills were closed but noticeable now that Eren was _actually_ paying attention. And paying attention he was. 

Levi was mesmerizing and Eren was positively enthralled. 

“That wasn’t quite the response I was going for, but I guess I’ll take it, twerp” the deep baritone voice cut through the quiet and demanded Eren’s attention once again. Teal locked with silver and Eren couldn’t help the blush that rushed through him when he realized that he had actually spoken out loud.

Well fuck.

“I.. i.. uhm yo-“ his stammering attempt at an explanation was quickly interrupted by an agonizing coughing fit that tore through his entire body; his throat feeling as if it had been pierced by a thousand needles all at once. Eren abruptly fell back on his ass, clutching his throat with both of his hands as he wheezed desperately to get air in his abused lungs in between the excruciating coughing. Tears were glistening in the corner of his eyes and a loud sobbing noise escaped his shaking lips. 

It hurt. It hurt so much and speaking was only making it worse. 

Unable to focus on anything else but the pain that wrecked through him, his fingernails dug into the skin around his throat; begging his body to stop with the convulsions and the urge to cough as every single one had his throat burn brighter in agony. 

He was so out of it that he didn’t even register Levi speaking to him, nor the hint of concern edged in his commanding voice. “Wait here.” 

A low splashing of water could be heard but all Eren’s mind could focus on was the pain. It was too much. It hurt so bad he was crying now, the tears falling down his cheeks in small rivulets, wetting the surface of his smooth skin in cruel irony, as all his parched and raw throat so desperately needed was liquid. 

After what felt like a small eternity, his body finally seemed to be able to calm down; the pain however, was still prevalent and echoing through his entire body. He couldn’t move; the exhaustion finally taken its toll on him. All he could do was lie there helplessly and vulnerable; praying for it to stop and go away. 

Just when his mind was about to tell him that enough was enough, his ears registered another bout of splashing, and multiple something’s being dropped on the cave floor with a soft wet plop. 

“Suck the juice out of one of those” he heard Levi’s low voice much closer to him than he had anticipated. 

But not even that was enough to get him to maneuver his tired body into a different direction. Eren was effectively curled up in a fetus position at the edge of the water, too scared of actually moving out of fear of inducing another agonizing coughing fit. He’d had enough of those for a lifetime. 

Hazily opening his lids he took in the pile of… what he guessed to be some kind of fruit that had now been carefully assembled a few inches away from his head. The fruit had a dark purple tinge to it and was about the size of an apple, but seemed much softer and more fragile the longer he stared at it. 

His hesitance to move must have been misinterpreted by Levi as a lack of trust, as he huffed sarcastically “They are safe brat. Wouldn’t have saved your ass twice in a row just to feed you something poisonous now, would I?” 

Slowly Eren uncurled from his position and carefully took hold of one of the purple fruit. It felt soft and squishy in his hands; promising the liquid his parched throat so desperately needed to wash down the salt. 

He could feel Levi’s stare weigh heavily on him, silently urging him on to try the new treat he had procured for him. Closing his eyes and expecting and odd taste Eren bit down into the soft flesh. Immediately the skin burst and the lightly salty taste of the ocean was overshadowed by the sweet taste of star fruit and pear mixing heavenly on his taste buds. He couldn’t help the quiet moan of relief that slipped out as he drank down the juice like a madman. 

Sucking the fruit dry, he instantly grabbed the next one, ignoring the low chuckle he received for his poor manners. 

The juice was heavenly, quenching his thirst and washing down all the salt that had been stuck in his throat. The nectar of the odd fruit was slightly chilled, just like the water he had swam in a few hours prior, but that only helped extinguishing the burning pain in his throat. 

Reveling in the blissful feeling of the pain slowly ebbing away, Eren opened his eyes that he had closed somewhere in between the second and the third fruit. Gunmetal orbs were still trained on him, but less warily now. 

Eren held the eye-contact as he grabbed his fourth fruit, fumbling around a bit until he finally had it in his grasp, which just earned himself another chuckle from the beautiful creature in front of him. 

“Better?”

“Much better” Eren said, his voice now sounding much more like his own – even being able to use more than a whisper. Biting into the fourth fruit with vigor, he gulped down the sweet nectar before quietly adding “Thank you Levi.”

Levi just hummed in response, his eyes darting between Eren’s throat and his eyes as if to ascertain whether or not he was truly alright. 

“You alright now, kid? No more dying on me today?”

“Not today, Levi. I’m kind of done with that.” Eren managed a small smile at Levi’s seemingly nonchalant question, that was laced with much more empathy than one could tell at first glance.

“And to answer your previous question… as I said I was looking for something important…” Eren took a quiet breath to steady himself; eyes locking once again with Levi’s silver ones that stared at him with a hint of curiosity shining in them. “Something that is very dear to me… and it was thrown away into the ocean by someone else…”

“So someone took one of your possessions and threw it in the ocean?” Levi concluded; his eyes narrowing slightly as he rephrased the information into a question.

“Essentially, yes.”

“And you were so desperate to find that thing on the bottom of the ocean that you nearly drowned _twice_?”

Eren winced slightly but before he could say anything more he heard Levi utter a low “Humans are fucking weird” under his breath. 

“It- it’s the last thing I have from my mother…” Eren whispered, his voice trailing off at the end. His expression turned into one of sorrow as he realized that he would never see the necklace again. It was gone. The last thing his mother had given him was gone, swallowed by the ocean as the waves took it from him. 

A low sigh echoed through the once more quiet cave before Levi spoke up again “What does that _thing_ from your mother look like brat?”

Eren’s expression must have spelled complete and utter confusion as the raven elaborated in a tired and now rather bored voice “I’m not gonna dive down there without knowing what to look for, so just tell me.”

“You… you would do that?” Eren asked flabbergasted. Levi was willing to go and look for his necklace? Had he heard him right?

“Didn’t I just say so brat? I’m not very keen on fishing you out of there _a third time_ and I get the feeling that you’re not one to easily give up. So just spit it out so we can get this over with.” The raven grumbled, but Eren could tell there was an odd kindness laced into the words, as if Levi didn’t want to openly admit that he was doing a _weird human_ a favor. 

“It’s a necklace with a key on it. A bronze key that looks really old-fashioned and uhm… even if you can only find the key that would still mean the world to me…”

“Tch. Got it brat. Stay here, I’ll be right back.” And with that Levi elegantly dove back down into the water, but not without splashing Eren full of water with a cheeky flicker of his tail. 

With a not so manly squeal a wet Eren stared after the retreating form of Levi, still holding the last of the purple fruit in his hands, effectively shell-shocked at the turn of events of the last few hours. A grumpy merman had saved his life twice and was now looking for his lost necklace in the sea… was he dreaming or was all of this actually real?

Shaking his head and pinching himself in the arm he looked down into his lap only to see the purple fruit still innocently lying there; serving as proof that he had not just hallucinated the entire exchange with a freaking merman. 

A deadly, dangerous merman that had bared his fangs at him without blinking twice. A creature that could easily disembowel and kill him. Cut him to tiny pieces and feast on him…

But all Eren could think about was his desire to know more about the intriguingly beautiful man named Levi. And with another blush creeping its way back onto his face he realized that this was more than physical attraction, _he actually wanted to get to know the guy._

Just what had he gotten himself into this time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys thought about the chapter :D
> 
> Also, [you can follow me on tumblr if you want to. ](http://choucosplay.tumblr.com)


	3. Exploration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAND i'm back on track with this FF as well. Phew, sorry guys that it took me a while to update again. As mentioned on my other FF i had a lot of personal stuff going on that is still being sorted out so yeah... i didn't really have time to write BUUUUUT here's finally the third chapter. 
> 
> I hope it's up to par and you like it, please let me know what you thought. I love reading opinions and comments <3

Eren was still staring at the once more peaceful surface of the dark pool; trying his hardest to process what had happened to him during the past 24 hours. Not only had his life been turned upside down – no – now he had the pleasure of knowing a freaking merman of all things. A very hot, sassy merman. 

Slowly turning the purple fruit Levi had procured for him in his hands, Eren touched the squishy surface gingerly as not to put too much pressure on it; afraid of the skin bursting. His thoughts were revolving around the fact that Levi had actually agreed on trying to find his necklace for him. The kindness of the gesture wasn’t lost on him, despite the very sound argument of the merman that Eren’s thick-headedness and determination would get the better of him later, leading him to try and retrieve the necklace on his own again. Still, Levi could have just left him to his own devices. 

But Eren was more than grateful that he hadn’t. It meant that he could spend some more time with the intriguingly alluring creature that was Levi – even if… even if his key ended up not being found after all. He wouldn’t have his mom’s memento anymore but she would still be with him, right? 

His gaze was lost on the jagged stone formation to his right; his vision blurred by the lack of focus he put on his surrounding; his mind focused on the memories of his deceased mother. Reveling in recollections of her warm happy smile, his entire body flinched fearfully when suddenly a slightly amused baritone voice asked “Is this it, brat?”

The surprise had jolted him right out of his previous position, the purple fruit rolling into the pool with a low plop due to the sudden jostling of his limbs. A part of him registered the small round thing sinking down into the shadows, most likely lost for good, but his focus lied once more on the merman that had seemingly popped out of nowhere. 

Levi was smirking again, no doubt enjoying the show Eren was giving him. He had surfaced silently a short distance away from him, having predicted Eren’s reaction perfectly if the smug expression was anything to go by. Quirking another eyebrow at him he raised his arm a bit higher and repeated “As much fun as teasing you is, is this it, twerp?”

Eren’s eyes slowly wandered down to the thing Levi was holding; having to hold back a whimper when he realized what it was.

Dangling from Levi’s hand was the necklace he had become so familiar with over the past few years. His mother’s key glistened with the ocean water trickling down its metallic outlay. Small droplets were dripping into the water below, the little plops barely audible as Eren’s ears were fuzzing with empty noise. _Levi had found it._

Without thinking about his actions, he pulled himself up on his knees almost mechanically; leaning forward and extending his arms to hug the ever-living shit out of the merman. 

“Wha- umff” was all he could manage before he gracelessly fell face first into the cold water; flailing about instantly, trying to discern what was up and down. Spluttering and gasping for air he breached the surface; paddling to keep himself afloat while actually throwing his own dirty glare in the direction of the merman; huffing dejectedly “Why did you move away?”

Levi’s eyes were narrowed suspiciously and while neither his teeth were bared nor his fins spread out, he had put quite the distance between the two of them. Safety distance, Eren figured. 

“It wasn’t like I was planning on attacking you or something, Levi” he whined; unable to stop the frustration from seeping into his voice a little bit. All he had wanted to do was to hug the merman as a thank you for the effort he had put into finding what he held so dear and in return he was being treated like vermin. Discouraged he quietly muttered his explanation under his breath; a part of him hoping that Levi wouldn’t actually hear it “I only wanted to hug you as thanks you know.”

After a moment of silence, Levi’s calculated voice rang through the cave, his tone almost scolding if Eren didn’t know any better “Why would you throw yourself at danger like that? If you haven’t gotten the message yet, I’m dangerous. Our kind isn’t on the best terms with you humans. And for the record, so is jumping into the ocean when you drowned mere hours ago, you suicidal brat.” 

“I’m not suicidal! And you’re not dangerous!” Eren countered; pausing slightly before adding “You wouldn’t have saved me if you were! For all I know you could have easily disemboweled and feasted on me if you wanted to; but instead you brought me back here and even helped me! That’s not something someone dangerous would do!” he argued; splashing some water around in irritation while gesturing wildly with the arm that wasn’t keeping him afloat. 

It almost sounded like a low huff coming from Levi’s direction after he had finished his little speech - and for a brief moment contemplative silence filled the room, before the raven’s tone suddenly shifted back to a more teasing note “Well if you’re not suicidal then why were you trying to drown yourself there for the third time then hm?” gesturing to the edge Eren had just fallen off from.

“I- I wasn’t!” Eren spluttered, not expecting the abrupt mood shift from the raven. “Like I said I was just trying to… trying to… you know…”

“What, _Eren_? You were trying to do what?” Levi teased, slowly swimming a bit closer.

Fuck. Hearing the merman say his name for the first time actually left him with a shiver running down his spine. Fuck, he wanted to hear that again. 

“I-… I was…” – “You were?” Levi’s voice dropped lower, sounding almost raspy now; amusement dancing in the mercury eyes that were staring right through him. The raven had effectively closed the distance between them – as much as he possibly could with Eren paddling around with both arms and legs. 

At this point, Eren was a blushing mess; so instead of answering he averted his gaze, trying to discern whether or not he could get to the edge of the pool fast enough to avoid further interrogation. 

“Stop flailing around, brat.” Levi instructed; voice still low enough to send shivers through Eren’s body. 

“I **can’t**! Or you know I _will_ actually drown for the third time. And I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t appreciate that.” Eren sassed back. Hmpf. Two could play this game. 

The low ensuing chuckle had him nearly splutter from the water he barely avoided swallowing. “I said stop thrashing around; it’s distracting when you’re trying to hold a conversation. And it looks rather ungraceful might I add.”

“Screw you! Not everyone has the grace of having a ta- woah, wha-“ 

Before he knew what was happening said tail had wrapped itself around Eren’s legs and hips, effectively stilling his movement while keeping him above the surface. The sudden momentum of something slithering itself around his body left his upper torso tilting forward, his hands reaching out instinctively to stop himself from falling face first into the water again – not like it would have mattered much, considering that he would have face-planted the water anyway. 

But to his surprise his hands _did_ grab hold of something. 

The something being two _very_ defined pectoral muscles. 

Fuck. 

Wide-eyed and with sudden heat coloring his cheeks in a renewed blush, he retracted his hands almost instantaneously as if the hotness of Levi’s muscles had actually burned him. Scrambling to put some distance between himself and the raven, his torso tilted backwards; his arms flailing around once more while he silently cursed Levi’s tail for firmly keeping him in place.

Profanities were about to spill over his lips when clawed fingers decisively grabbed his arms to steady him. He barely registered the low ‘tch’ sound’ that was uttered _way_ to close for comfort, too focused on his hands which had in return managed to find firm purchase on Levi’s biceps.

Pecs and biceps. Oh god.

‘Please kill me now’, he thought frantically. 

Maybe he was a suicidal bastard after all? Death by nose-bleed. He guessed he could live with that if _this_ was how heaven looked like. 

Blushing profusely he tried his best to avoid further eye-contact with the raven, while at the same time refusing to focus on the firm glory beneath his hands. 

“Tch. You’re worse than a baby otter taking its first swim.” Levi huffed. 

_That_ had him look at the other in indignation. Puffing his cheeks Eren retorted “I’m not a baby otter, and I can swim just fine, thank you!” 

“Damn right you are.” Levi smirked, while lifting one of his clawed hands to gently comb through Eren’s messy, wet hair “Same soft brown fur and doe-eyes. Though they are more graceful once they actually _are_ in the water” 

Eren’s retort was stuck in his throat as Levi’s claws gently raked through the few strands behind his ear, before feeling an almost feather-light touch ghost over his right earlobe. If he hadn’t been blushing before, he certainly was now. 

Oh fuck it. 

Leaning slightly into the gentle touch, he heard Levi hum quietly in response, one claw stroking over his cheek almost tenderly before leaving his face all together. To anyone else the situation must have looked like a cat playing with its prey but Eren had a hard time suppressing a whine at the loss of contact to the raven. 

The smirk was back in full force now and Eren couldn’t help but silently curse that damned grin that took all his composure away, rendering him into a blushing mess of hormones. If there was one thing he was most definitely certain of after meeting Levi, then it was the fact that he was gay. So damn gay. Gayer than a freaking rainbow. 

Levi’s low raspy voice brought him back from his momentary reverie “Weren’t you eager to get this back, brat?” he asked, while holding up the necklace again. “By your reaction I take it it’s the right one then, huh?” 

Amble fingers undid the seal quickly, placing it securely around Eren’s neck and smirking at the dumbfounded expression he received in return. 

Eren was grateful that he had enough wits about him to clutch the key tightly and mumble a low “Thank you so much, Levi” unable to stop himself from choking up when expressing his gratitude to the raven. 

“So this was your mom’s then right?” Levi asked quietly while brushing another strand of Eren’s messy hair behind his ear. 

“Yeah… she told me it was the key to anything I wanted it to be. The key to imagination… the key to freedom… the key to someone’s heart.” A small smile ghosted over his feature’s at that particular memory. 

_‘So mom, is it the key to your heart then?’ eager little Eren asked her almost immediately upon hearing her explanation. Carla only smiled lovingly at her son, replying with a soft voice ‘If that’s what you want it to be then yes, it is.’_

Levi hummed quietly “She sounds like a great person.”

“She was.” Eren replied, tears threatening to fall down his cheeks again at the bittersweet memory of his loving mom and the stark contrast to his hateful homophobic father that he still had to face. “I miss her so much.” Choking up he mumbled quietly “She would’ve known what to say to him. Would have known how to make hi- him see that it’s… it’s still me…” he hiccupped slightly and added “T-that nothing has ch- changed…”

“What happened Eren?” Levi asked; a sharp edge clearly audible in his voice now. 

“M-my dad…” another sob escaped him as he remembered his father’s words once more “H-he was the one who threw away my key…”

“Why would your father do that?” Levi asked frowning. “He knew it was your mother’s right?”

“He did. But he said I didn’t deserve anything of hers…” Eren’s voice had trailed lower and lower with every word, ending in a nothing but a hushed whisper “He said I’d disgraced her; disgraced him - his name and his house… that I was no longer his son.” The tears were falling freely now, trickling down his cheeks in small rivulets as the memories kept tormenting him. 

A loud, guttural snarl made its way out of Levi’s throat in response to his answer, his lips curled back in distaste to reveal razor-sharp teeth, seemingly ready to rip someone apart if the sound coming from him was anything to go by. 

“Why would your father say something like that?” Levi growled angrily.

“Be-because I’m… I’m g-gay” he whispered in reply; averting his eyes to stare at the water in between them, finding the small disturbances in the surface suddenly very interesting.

He didn’t know what had come over him to pour his heart out to a stranger. He didn’t know Levi; had no sense of how the raven would react to his declaration, so why had he just put himself out there _again_? What if he reacted the same way his father had? What if he also found him disgusting? _What if he actually was disgusting?_

His hands that were holding onto Levi’s shoulders were trembling slightly at the thought of the merman treating him the same way his father had. Too afraid to look the raven in the eyes, he kept his gaze on the water; fretting silently if he would push him away any second now. But instead of being shoved away, a clawed hand cupped his face gently, tilting it up so that he would face the merman’s liquid silver gaze once more. 

The tears that were still falling silently were softly brushed away; the raven’s voice having lost its angry edge; leaving only gentle understanding in its wake. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, Eren. Your dad’s a complete and utter homophobic asshole for saying those shitty things to you. I’d rip him to shreds if he ever dared enter my territory for spouting the bullshit he said to you.”

Eren hiccupped and managed a tiny smile at the merman’s sudden protective outburst. “Thanks Levi” he murmured, his sobbing quieting down a bit in relief to at the others reaction.

“But you know, brat. That explains a lot.” Levi teased, trying to lighten the mood by continuing their earlier banter “mainly all the staring and blushing like a school girl” he smirked. 

Averting his eyes from the mercury orbs that watched him amusedly, he tried to ignore the heat on his cheeks as he muttered “Can’t really help it when you’re hot as fuck” earning himself a low chuckle from the raven. 

When Levi didn’t immediately reply or tease him further, Eren opted for chancing a quick glance at the merman’s face. Levi was watching him carefully, gunmetal irises darting from his eyes to his lips and back to his neck again. The merman seemed to internally debate something and Eren had no idea what it was. 

Humming quietly, Levi suddenly tugged him closer, brushing his nose over Eren’s mob of brown hair while letting out a low rumble. Frozen by the more than sudden proximity with no real idea what was happening or what exactly Levi was doing, Eren just kept still; holding his breath while trying not to squirm. It wasn’t like he would’ve stood a chance against the beast that had him in its claws anyway. 

Levi slowly made his way down to his ear, earning himself a surprised yelp when he licked the shell once. “Wha- what are you doing?” Eren stuttered, scarlet coloring his cheeks once more, the blush complementing his tanned skin lovingly. Levi didn’t grace him with a reply, only rumbling softly while continuing to map down the path to Eren’s neck with his nose. 

“Wha-“ – “Brat. Stop making a fuss.” Levi shushed him, nose still tracing imaginative patterns into his neck. 

With his heart hammering wildly in his chest and following a sudden rush of bravery Eren buried his nose in the raven’s neck, imitating the merman’s rather animalistic actions by trailing his nose below Levi’s ear. Maybe this was some form of weird merman greeting? 

Another surprised yelp left him when said ear suddenly flicked into his face in reprimand, Levi’s low voice rumbling in his neck “There’s no point in you doing that, twerp.”

“Then why are you doing i-it” Eren gasped, glad he actually managed to get a coherent sentence out when Levi’s tongue suddenly joined the mix; sending shivers down the brunette’s spine upon licking a stripe down his surprisingly sensitive neck. 

“I’m scenting you so others know to keep away.” Levi explained while giving the same spot another lick; leaving another shiver in its wake. Eren had to do his best to suppress the moan that was about to slip over his lips, trying hard to think of something other than the merman’s hot tongue on his neck. 

Humming, Levi leaned back slightly and seemed to give him a once over; deciding whether or not he had done a thorough enough job. Satisfied with his work, silver eyes met the blown pupils of emerald ones that were staring at him with a mix of attraction, lust and intrigue. Their noses were almost brushing against each other and Eren couldn’t help but daydream about leaning only a tiny bit closer to close the distance to the smoking hot guy _who had just licked his neck upon hearing he was gay._

Levi shook his head slightly and chuckled “You should know danger when you see it right in front of you.” – “You’re no danger to me” Eren whispered; still partially lost in his daydream of feeling the merman’s lips on his own. 

“You sound damn sure about that” Levi replied frowning; his smirk quickly growing wider and wider, until Eren was staring at a fully revealed intimidatingly sharp set of teeth mere inches away from his face and throat. 

To anyone else the threat in the gesture would have been painstakingly obvious, but Eren didn’t even flinch. Instead he slowly raised his hand to Levi’s face, fully expecting it to be slapped away by a clawed hand. Narrowed silver orbs were trained on his hand as his fingers reached for the sharp pearly whites being displayed right in front of him. He touched the teeth gingerly, trailing along the shape of the fang-like protrusions with awe. “Incredible” he muttered beneath his breath, fingers ghosting over the fangs that could end his life within mere seconds. 

After a few more moments of tracing the raven’s teeth, his eyes darted over to the tiny scales that littered the side of the merman’s face in various breathtakingly beautiful shades of blue. The tiniest ones towards the center of his face had an almost azure tint to them, getting darker and leaning more towards the shade of cobalt blue the closer they grew to the raven’s hairline and ears. 

Eren’s fingers wandered over the scales without him consciously wanting them to. They were small but smooth to the touch, growing over and into each other like a second skin. Mesmerized by the colors blending into each other, Eren mapped out the different shades with his fingers, whispering small compliments under his breath without realizing what he was doing. His finger trailed along cerulean and sapphire scales until he reached the darkest shade closest to the raven’s ear. 

The webbed ear was tugged back against his skull, but Eren knew from personal experience that the merman could move it at will. “Cool” he whispered as he carefully traced along the webbing, dancing along the soft membrane with feather-light touch. 

Following the scales that were littered along the raven’s throat he took note of the gills that he had first failed to notice. His hand immediately travelled lower, wanting to touch the slits that allowed the merman breathe under water. 

Levi had been surprisingly still during his entire exploration; letting Eren do whatever he wanted, but as soon as his fingers were about to touch the raven’s gills a clawed hand shot forward and took hold of his wrist. 

Eren quickly glanced at Levi’s face, trying to gauge whether or not he had accidentally angered him. “That’s rather intimate, brat.” Levi explained calmly, releasing his wrist slightly when he saw realization wash over Eren’s features. “Oh…” 

Eren gaze fell once more on the three slits across each side of Levi’s throat and he nodded slightly, storing the information away in the back of his mind. 

Since Levi didn’t seem to be angry with him, Eren decided that he was allowed to continue. With his free hand he brought Levi’s arm a bit closer to inspect the fin that protruded from his forearm, his eyes widening in surprise when Levi let it flare out for him. “Amazing.” He whispered before tracing along the membrane that most likely helped the merman with his underwater maneuvers. He would love to see the merman in action, all snarly teeth and claws, darting around his prey with incredible speed and agility. A creature designed to kill. 

When Levi retracted the fin, Eren slipped his hand through the loose grip Levi had on his wrist to take hold of the other’s webbed hand. The raven’s claws were long and sharp, and could without a doubt cut through flesh like a knife through butter. But so far those claws had been surprisingly gentle. 

Eren slowly spread his hand against the merman’s leaving both hands splayed out against each other; smiling slightly at the differences between them. He glanced up once more; for the first time initiating eye-contact with the gunmetal orbs that were still watching him closely and crossed their fingers; taking hold of Levi’s hand.

“Yeah, I’m pretty damn sure about that.” He said, smiling confidently. 

Quirking an eyebrow at him for his cockiness, Levi just huffed a “brat” before turning more serious “You should go Eren.” Retracting his hand and keeping a neutral look on his face, he added “And if you know what’s good for you then you shouldn’t come back.”

Eren’s face quickly twisted into a scowl, before renewed determination sparked in his eyes and he boldly challenged “And what if I _want_ to come back here?”

Levi clicked his tongue at him and replied “I can’t stop you from coming here. But know that I won’t be babysitting your ass while you’re here” – “I don’t need babysitting!!” Eren retorted, irked at the raven for treating him like a kid. 

Snorting but still keeping a firm hold of him, Levi swam them over to the edge of the pool; his tail quickly unwrapping itself from Eren’s body, leaving him to slump down into the water. Spluttering and not expecting suddenly having to swim on his own again, Eren barely managed to grab hold of Levi’s shoulders to avoid sinking like a stone. 

“Yeah right, no babysitting needed at all” Levi snorted sarcastically.

“F-Fuck you Levi!” Eren spluttered, coughing up a bit of water that he had swallowed in his attempt to hold on to the merman. Chuckling slightly, Levi quickly lifted Eren out of the water and on the edge of the pool, leaving Eren to stare at him incredulously. 

Levi had just lifted him out of the freaking water without so much as breaking a sweat. Could this guy possibly get any hotter? 

The merman just raised another eyebrow at him, smirking slightly “I thought you had stared at them long enough to know that lifting you wouldn’t be a problem at all.” The raven teased while gesturing to his toned muscles. 

“I didn’t stare!” Eren denied flabbergasted. “Yeah, drooling would have been the more accurate description.” Levi replied smugly, his smirk growing wider the longer their banter continued. 

“Oh screw you” Eren mumbled. “Not like I could help it.”

Like a blushing baby deer taking its first steps Eren slowly got up and stumbled off towards the exit; throwing another look over his shoulder at the merman still lingering at the edge of the pool. 

“Off you go, twerp.” Levi shooed him away with a gesture of his wrist, making Eren turn around towards the well-hidden entrance to the cave. Glancing back one last time before leaving Levi’s cave, he could just make out the end of the blue grey fluke disappearing into the cold depths of the ocean. 

Oh he was _so_ coming back to this cave.


	4. Proximity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY MERMAY EVERYONE~~~!!!
> 
> I'm so incredibly sorry that this took sooo long to update orz. I felt really bad not having updated this in half a year, but i had a lot of shit going on in my personal life and am still dealing with all the back-lash from it and yeah... Also i had a rough time writing these past two months, which is why neither of by two fanfictions saw much action.. BUT i'll try to remedy that in the near future. Anyway i hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you thought. My diet consists of your feedback <3

The small smile that had graced Eren’s features at the more than unexpected turn his night and morning had taken quickly disappeared as the two-story building that he called home came into view. Dread settled deep inside of him, fear twisting his stomach into knots at the thought of having to face his homophobic father once more. He sincerely hoped that he would be able to sneak back into his room without alerting Grisha, shuddering at the idea of what the other would do to him if he found out that Eren had snuck out in the evening. 

Considering his involuntary coming-out to his father yesterday, Grisha’s mind would without a doubt jump to the conclusion that Eren had snuck out to meet with some boy and he had no desire whatsoever to find out what his father would do _then_. 

It wasn’t exactly untrue either. 

While he hadn’t snuck out to meet with a guy per se, he _did_ end up meeting one. 

Well… that was if you considered Levi to be a guy. 

Though his father would most definitely label the merman differently, would call the beautiful, ferocious creature that had saved Eren’s life twice nothing more than a monster. An _abomination_ from the depths of the ocean. Something to be feared. Something to be hunted and killed. 

_Kill it before it kills you._

Shaking his head at the ignorance of his father’s words echoing inside of his mind, he focused back on his task at hand, eyeing the water pipe that ran all the way from the roof of their little house to the ground, conveniently right alongside the window to his room on the first floor. He didn’t make use of it regularly – having scaled it more often as a child than now that he had become an adult, no longer in need of a sudden escape route these days. But then again, that might all change now. 

As quietly as he could, he started climbing upwards, trying his best to distribute his weight evenly and avoiding the spots he remembered prone to creaking. His entire body seemed to recollect the process easily enough, as if the memory of how to best climb the pipe had been ingrained into his body.

Not even 5 minutes later, Eren had managed the climb somewhat silently, reaching for the open window to his room without having created too much of a ruckus. He quickly clambered inside, his eyes wandering hastily over the entirety of his room to see if his father had come looking for him in his absence. 

A familiar, scattered mess of paint, chalk and brushes covered the far corner to his right, a few of his most recent drafts wildly strewn over the floor. His bed was still as unkept as usual, the sheets drawn back onto the headboard to create a comfortable, fluffy cushion to lean against when he felt like sketching on his bed. 

Eren let out a low sigh at the view, a wave of relief washing over him at the realization that everything was still in his own messy order, exactly the same as before he had gone on his little adventure. 

Flopping down onto his bed with his eyes closed shut he could tell that the strain his body had been under these past few hours was fully surfacing now that he was back in the safety of his room. His tired muscles ached, his throat still raspy and sore despite having eaten the small sea fruits Levi had procured for him. But Eren would take the dull ache and almost drowning all over again if it meant meeting the intriguing merman and getting his mother’s memento back. 

A small smile wormed its way onto his face at how easily the raven had accepted that Eren would be coming back. No words had been necessary to convey that Eren had every intention of returning to his cave. And while the merman had warned and reprimanded him, he had quickly gone back to teasing him instead of urging him not show his face here again. So he couldn’t possibly be _that_ unwelcome, right?

His smile turned droopy at the memory, his eyelids slowly growing heavier and heavier as the meager few hours of restless sleep he’d had in Levi’s cave crept up on him. With his thoughts still hazily drifting around one peculiarly sassy merman and his body finally relaxing into the soft, comfortable bedding beneath him, Eren fell into a deep slumber. 

 

****

 

Upon opening his lids the next time, Eren quickly realized that he had slept way past noon, judging by the sunrays basking his bed in a cozy warmth. For a brief second he simply enjoyed the warm rays kissing his tanned back, invigorating him with fresh energy to face the new day head-on. 

He was momentarily distracted by the calm waves crashing slowly but evenly against the close-by shore, focusing on the repetitive pattern of the water retracting and crashing against the sandy beach in front of his house. Some seagulls had made their nest on the nearby cliffs, squawking sporadically when they spotted something worth eating. 

But those weren’t the only creatures nearby, he knew now. 

A vivid memory of snarled teeth, sharp claws and hauntingly beautiful scales under ever-watchful silver orbs was what broke him out of his reverie and spurred him into a sitting position, his fingers hastily fumbling for his mother’s key. Finding the familiar smooth surface of the key dangling around his neck right where it belonged, he let out a low sigh of relief. So he hadn’t dreamt up Levi after all. The merman was real. 

A huge grin spread over his face, giddy excitement overtaking him at the prospect of seeing the raven again. Despite Levi’s teasing and rather stern, stand-offish attitude, Eren wanted to know more about him. The merman had saved him twice after all and Eren stood by his earlier reasoning: Levi might be a creature designed to kill but he wasn’t dangerous. At least not to him. 

He had no doubt about Levi’s ability to snap his neck in a heartbeat if he so chose to, but there was just something inside of him telling him that rather than being in danger in the merman’s presence, he was peculiarly enough _safe_. Protected even. 

Levi had even gone so far as to… what was it again? Scent him?

He could feel the heat creep back onto his face, could almost envision the light dusting of pink coloring his cheeks at the memory of a surprisingly rough tongue on his sensitive neck. Levi had freaking licked his neck of all things. And while logically speaking Eren understood that it had most likely been some sort of animalistic instinct, he couldn’t help but blush at the incredulity of the entire situation. A hot merman hat scented him to keep others away. At least that’s what he had said right?

But what exactly did he mean by that? Keep other mermen away? 

Before he could ponder further over Levi’s behavior he heard a loud banging sound from the kitchen downstairs, closely followed by the angry shouting of his father. He’d normally go and see what the fuss was all about, but after all that had happened yesterday his entire body froze. 

His father had ordered him not to show his face again right? So what was the right thing to do here? Show himself and receive a verbal beating or hide in his room and get yelled at for not getting up earlier or making himself useful?

The heavy footsteps stomping closer to his room answered his predicament as he quickly scrambled away from the door, backing away into the corner where his painting supplies lay scattered on the floor. He hurriedly picked up some of his drawings, wanting to make it look like he was in the middle of cleaning his room and praying that Grisha would fall for the ruse when the door was smashed open with a loud bang, the frame of it impacting heavily with his wall by the sheer force with which his father had thrown it open. 

Anger was radiating off of Grisha as he looked at Eren with contempt and disgust edged onto his features, his mouth contorted into a repulsed sneer. “The fuck d’ya think you’re dooin’ boy?” he slurred, clearly far from sober or pleased at the moment. 

“I-I’m cleaning my room.” Eren answered meekly, silently grateful that he’d had the foresight to hide his key back under his shirt before his father had barged into the room. 

“Iff ya ‘ave time to clean your pigsty of a room, you shoulda already cleaned the entire goddamn ‘ouse, you uselessss piece o’ sshit!” He yelled heatedly, eyes sharpening disdainfully on Eren. “Why the fuck d’ya think I stillll allow a goddamn faggot under ma roof, huh? Do your fucking job, clean the ‘ouse and then get hic out for the night!” 

Get out? What was his father saying? Was he throwing him out?! For being gay?

“But… where should I go?” Eren asked incredulously, eyes widening in disbelief at what his father was asking of him. All of his friends lived quite the distance away from him, as he was the only one out of their group that commuted to their college by a two hour train ride to Trost. So it wasn’t like he had anywhere to go. 

“Do I lookk like I give a fuck, boy?!” Grisha sneered, completely indifferent to whatever happened to his son. “Just get the fuck out off ma sight, I ‘ave friendssss coming over and I don’t wantto ‘ave a fag of a son parading around ‘em, so get out before I make you!” he threatened bitterly, throwing a last look of loathing in Eren’s direction before marching out of his room. 

Eren was about to let out the breath he had been holding when another angry yell came from downstairs “Ya better make sssure the ‘ouse is ssssparkling ya fucking queer shit!”

He flinched at the hateful comment, his eyes watering for a brief moment at all the hatred directed at him from his own father. Only because he was different. 

He didn’t choose to be different; it wasn’t like he made the choice to be gay. He just was. None of his friends had a problem with it either, so was it really too much to ask to be accepted the way he was? He was still the same person after all, he hadn’t changed. The only one that had changed was his father. 

Blinking away a few tears that threatened to fall down his cheeks and angrily wiping at his eyes at the injustice with which he was being treated, he sat back down on his bed, wondering where the fuck he was supposed to go. 

Jean had visited him the last week but he knew that while horseface had gone back to his dormitory to pack his things, he must have long been on his way home to his parents, which lived in the opposite direction of Eren. Everyone else had already left for their family homes, their parents insisting on them coming back during the holiday break and so his friends had scattered all over the place. And there was no way that Eren could afford a long-distance train ride, not even mentioning showing up at his friends’ doorstep uninvited. No way in hell was his father going to pay for a train ticket, especially not with how things were now. Grisha had even insisted on him commuting instead of paying for his living expenses in a dormitory.

Resentment rose inside of him as he realized that his _father_ of all people didn’t give a flying fuck about what happened to him. Hell, the bastard would most likely even be glad if he didn’t come back after tonight. What did he expect him to do? Was he just supposed to sleep under a bridge, on the beach or in a freaking cave?!

Oh.

Oh. 

Levi.

Levi’s cave. 

Maybe he could stay there for the night? After all he _had_ just slept there last night and he did promise himself that he would return to the merman’s cave, despite the others warnings and grumbling. 

He would just need a few things, like a sleeping bag, some blankets, some food and some clothes… he could easily bring those over after he had cleaned the house like his father had demanded. At least he wouldn’t be all alone if Levi allowed him to stay and he could get to know the merman better while he was at it. 

With a bit of newfound hope he started packing the things he would need for his involuntary sleep-over, gathering everything in a neat pile in the middle of his room. He’d lost the waterproof flashlight yesterday, but he still had the non-waterproof one, which he placed on the top of his little stack of necessities.

But the small pile wasn’t the only thing that Eren planned to carry over to the merman’s lair. He hadn’t forgotten all the trouble the raven had gone through with saving him and helping him find his mother’s necklace again. So the least he could do was show him his thanks, in any way that he could. The fact that Eren didn’t have much to offer didn’t hinder him in wanting to show the raven his profound gratitude. There was always the option of drawing him something but it wasn’t like Levi could fully enjoy his art when it could easily get destroyed by the close proximity to the merman’s natural habitat. So what else could Eren offer the merman?

He briefly pondered over what Levi could possibly appreciate, dismissing one thing after the other before suddenly a very simple idea popped into his head. 

Food. 

The merman had most likely never tasted anything other than seafood, so maybe Eren could cook something? Levi for sure had never tasted human cooking, so it was worth a try, right?

Eren immediately went through the stock of things that he knew they had stored in their fridge, quickly deciding that meat would be the best option. Despite Levi telling him that he’d eaten the seafruit he had brought to him before, Eren felt safer in making something meat-based with the merman being a predator after all. And as luck would have it, they still had a heap of chicken left in their fridge – perfect for making the little morsels Eren had in mind. 

Just when he put the last of his things onto the pile with a small smile on his face at the idea of Levi tasting his cooking, he heard his father’s intoxicated voice boom once more through the house “Gett started you l…little shit! I better not sssee your face when I come back ‘ere!!” and with that he heard the front door slam shut. 

A wave of sadness washed over him at the thought that this was what his life would look like from now on. Contempt, hatred and disgust at every waking moment. With a troubled look of resignation on his face he started making his way downstairs, taking in the mess of bottles and spilt food his father had left behind in his wake. Sighing at the sight in front of him he started getting out the cleaning supplies. 

This might take a while. 

 

****

 

It had taken him a few trips to get everything he needed over into Levi’s cave. With it being late afternoon he tried to be as inconspicuous as possible whenever he stealthily slid in between the rock formation towards the opening to Levi’s home. He didn’t particularly feel like people finding out where he was headed or why exactly he was carrying supplies towards a cave of all things. 

After a few trips and neatly stacking all his belongings in a corner of Levi’s lair, sadly not running into the merman himself, he made his way back to the house intent on cooking what he had in mind as quickly as possible. Judging by how drunk his father had been earlier in the day he didn’t want to face the man’s wrath if he so happened to see his face again when coming back. 

He would normally let himself drift off into his own little world when cooking, enjoying the relaxing activity as a refreshing reprieve from university and studying during the semester, but now Eren’s entire body was tense. Every nerve in his body was on high alert, listening for any sound that could hint at his father’s early arrival. 

He quickly went through all the motions of preparing the meat properly, cracking the egg in one plate, filling the other two with flour and breadcrumbs. He impatiently started tapping his foot on the floor as he waited for the oil to heat up; all the while staring at the containers he would put the finished product in absent-mindedly. 

What if Levi didn’t like it? What if Levi didn’t want him there? What if Levi chased him out?

But no, the merman wouldn’t do that right? He hadn’t chased him off after the second time he had saved his life and had instead gone looking for the one thing he truly held dear; had even helped him with his coughing fits and made sure that he was alright. And he hadn’t pushed him away even after Eren had confessed to being gay. The murderous anger that had radiated off the merman after telling him of his father’s homophobic behavior had all been on Eren’s behalf – not directed _at_ him. 

The sizzling of the oil snapped him out of his thoughts. He quickly placed the breaded pieces of meat inside of it and watched as they slowly turned golden-brown on the outside. When the last pieces were sizzling inside of the pan he went around the room opening the windows for the smell to slowly dissipate before Grisha’s arrival. Taking the final nuggets out of the pan he quickly went about cleaning the kitchen to its former sparkling glory. 

Closing the windows and casting a final glance around the now sparkling living room, he grabbed his jacket from the coat rack and with the two containers full of still warm chicken nuggets under his arm he made his way towards Levi’s cave, ignoring the nervous butterflies dancing around inside of his stomach at the thought of seeing the raven again. 

 

****

 

Eren had just barely set a foot inside of Levi’s cave when a gruff, familiar voice rang through the stone walls, asking with mild irritation “Mind explaining to me what the shit ton of stuff over there is doing in my fucking cave, brat?”

Levi had surfaced at the edge of the pool, leaning leisurely against the jagged pieces of rock and stone that surrounded the outline of the now darkening water. The sun was slowly setting outside, making the few rays that managed to worm their way into the cave a blessing in Eren’s opinion. They illuminated the merman’s figure, making his scales shimmer and shine in a wide array of blues. The midnight strands that fell into his angular face and framed it so perfectly that all Eren wanted to do was run his hand through them were almost completely dry. A clear sign that the raven had been waiting for him to arrive. 

Eren couldn’t help but smile at the thought. 

He eagerly made his way over to the scowling merman, his steps almost bouncing from the excitement that ran through him at seeing Levi again. 

The raven had his arms crossed in front of his chest. His thin eyebrows were scrunched together into a frown as he eyed the pile of things Eren had accumulated in the corner of his home. Just when he was about to open his mouth again to most likely reprimand him, Eren fearlessly plopped down right in front of him, legs dangling over the edge and into the still comfortably warm water. 

Ignoring the surprised look on Levi’s face and the nervous flutter in his stomach he decided to simply go for it, asking with a sudden rush of adrenaline “Can I stay here for the night?”

He eyed the merman cautiously, suddenly very insecure and anxious about Levi’s response to his request. His fingers were curled into his shorts as he chanced a look directly into the narrowed silver orbs that were observing him with an emotion that Eren couldn’t quite place. 

“Eren…” Levi started with a measured tone of voice, seemingly ready to tell him off, but before he could even get a second word out, Eren moved to hastily interrupt him “My dad kinda kicked me out… so uhm… I don’t really have anywhere else to go…”

“He. Did. _What_?” came the eerily calm reply. Levi’s tone was dangerously leveled, sending a shiver down Eren’s spine and contrasting starkly with his physical response to his admission. Within a heartbeat the merman’s entire posture had changed, his fins flaring slightly as he righted himself in the water, his tail thrashing furiously underneath him and creating rippled waves that crashed against Eren’s thighs. 

“ _He threw you out_?!” he hissed through clenched teeth, barely containing a growl to accompany the words.

“Yeah…” Eren confirmed quietly, staring at his legs with dull eyes “He told me he had friends coming over and that he didn’t want to have a fag of a son around them… so I should get out.” 

A ferocious, angry snarl interrupted his recap of his father’s prejudiced cruelty and he hesitantly looked up into the raven’s enraged face. Levi looked positively livid and for the first time since meeting him Eren was glad not to be on the receiving end of the merman’s wrath. 

“I swear to whatever deity is out there, I will kill the fucker if he ever dares to put a single toe into my territory.” Levi spit violently. “I’ll rip him to shreds. Disembowel the shitty asshole and strangle him with his own intestines.” Levi growled menacingly, eyes shimmering with murderous intent. 

“Please don’t.” Eren whispered under his breath, teal orbs still trained on his no longer shaking hands that lay splayed out on top of his half submerged legs. “I’d be all alone if he was gone too” he admitted quietly, his voice wavering slightly with profound sadness. 

“Trust me, you’d be better off alone than having to live with that piece of shit.” Levi sneered, anger still simmering underneath his agitated form, his claws stretching and retracting as the merman tried to rein his irritation back in. The waves created by Levi’s tail were still crashing against Eren’s thighs, but their ferocity had diminished somewhat. 

When after a few quiet moments, he didn’t bother looking up at the raven in front of him, the merman slowly swam closer. A part of his tail was gently brushing against Eren’s legs as Levi spoke up again, his voice calmer now. “Eren…” 

He could tell that Levi was trying to sound gentle, trying his best to suppress the gravelly edge still laced in his voice, trying to rid himself of his instincts that must be demanding he rip something or rather someone to shreds. 

A clawed hand slowly reached up and brushed along his cheek, carefully tilting his head up so ocean-green irises could stare into the mercury depths of Levi’s eyes. The merman’s features were schooled in again, his lips pushed into the half-scowling expression he usually wore. But there was something shimmering in the grey orbs that were looking at him intently now. 

“Don’t listen to what the fucker has to say about you. I told you before, there’s nothing wrong with you.” He briefly paused, staring at Eren sharply as if he wanted to let the words sink in. “Hell… I’m sure an obnoxious little brat like you has an entire army of friends out there.” A tiny smile was tugging at the corner of his lips at the idea. “Besides, I’m not made for chasing prey on land right?” he huffed with a low chuckle, his tail brushing teasingly against Eren’s legs once more.

Eren couldn’t help but smile slightly at that.

Levi was trying to comfort him in his own way, telling him that he wasn’t alone. That he still had friends out there who liked him for who he was. That he didn’t have to change. That he was fine the way he was. 

All the while the merman’s clawed hand had continued to stroke soothing, almost tender circles into his cheek and when Eren met Levi’s watchful gaze again, he realized what else the raven had been trying to convey with his last statement: that he would follow Eren’s wishes in regards to his father. Despite clearly wanting to eviscerate the perpetrator of his current emotional turmoil, Levi had told him that he would hold himself back. For him. 

The thought alone was enough to almost make him choke up. He tried averting his gaze but somehow his body didn’t want to follow his orders anymore – or at least not this particular one. It was simply impossible to break eye-contact with the beautiful creature in front of him. The swirling depths of ice blue and silver were looking at him knowingly, the damned smirk widening slightly as a smooth tail brushed ever so slowly with feather light touches along the length of his legs, making his breath hitch audibly.

The low chuckle tumbling over Levi’s lips was what broke the intimacy of the moment, Eren’s heart leaping in his chest and thumping heavily at the husky way the merman was laughing at his hormonal responses. It wasn’t like he could really help them. Not when Levi was treating him with such tenderness. 

Huffing out a breath of indignation his eyes trailed from the mirthful expression adorning Levi’s face down to his submerged legs, grateful for the slowly chilling water that cooled down the simmering heat inside of him. 

“What are those?” Levi suddenly asked. He gestured to the containers Eren had put down next to himself, retracting his clawed hand from his cheek to do so - much to Eren’s dismay. 

“Oh. Right.” He’d almost forgotten about them. “Uh, those are. Uhm food?” 

“Plastic. Yummy.” Levi taunted sarcastically, clearly having fun with Eren not being able to string a coherent sentence together the closer their proximity was. “If you’d wanted plastic, I could’ve brought you a shit ton of that stuff since you humans are so adamant about dumping everything in the ocean and not giving a fuck about the consequences.” Levi grumbled, eyeing the containers with disdain. 

“Yeah… you’d think humanity would have figured out how to treat their environment better by now…” Eren agreed quietly, watching silently as the merman’s scowl deepened at his words. Wanting nothing more than to wipe the frown he had involuntarily put on Levi’s face away, he swiftly moved to explain the contents of the boxes. 

“I uhm, cooked something for you. As a thanks you know. For all the trouble you went through.” He added sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand while reaching for the first container with his other. 

“You brought me food?” Levi asked baffled, gunmetal eyes gaping at the plastic boxes in complete disbelief. 

“Yeah” Eren nodded. “It’s chicken nuggets since I thought you’d probably like meat better than anything else.” 

“Try one” he encouraged, opening the container and holding it out for Levi to take one. “Though I’m not sure how much you’ll like human cooking.”

Levi stared at the golden-brown morsels for a brief second, before his eyes darted away from the container in Eren’s hands to the younger’s face and then to the pile of blankets and things stashed away in the corner of his cave. 

When the merman’s silver orbs moved back to take in his almost hopeful expression, an almost shit-eating smirk appeared on Levi’s face. 

All of a sudden Levi placed both of his hands onto Eren’s thighs, tilting his upper body forward and effectively leaning further into his personal space, sultrily whispering “My, my… if you’re bold enough to ask for a courtship brat, then you might as well go straight to feeding me.”

Clawed hands were busy kneading the supple flesh of his thighs as Levi slowly opened his mouth, letting his tongue flick out to lick leisurely over his lips. And Eren couldn’t help but stare flabbergasted at the merman in front of him. 

Wait what? Courtship?!

Huh? … but he hadn’t done anything. 

Except for all the blushing like a schoolgirl and ogling the raven as if he was the last piece of meat on planet earth, his brain supplied helpfully. 

_Not helping!_

His attraction to the raven wasn’t news to either of them, Eren knew. But still, he hadn’t done anything that would warrant a courtship of all things, right? That was if Levi even shared the same understanding of the word as Eren did. Maybe it meant something different for the merman? But no, he wouldn’t have invaded his personal space like that, wouldn’t be staring at him with half lidded eyes, wouldn’t be kneading his thighs as if they were the best present ever. 

Maybe Levi was just teasing and fucking with him again? 

A raised eyebrow was all the cue his body needed as it started moving on autopilot, grabbing a nugget from the plastic box and shakily moving it towards Levi’s obediently opened lips. The raven was waiting patiently until tanned fingers plopped the little morsel inside of his mouth, sharp teeth going to work immediately upon the breaded surface making contact with his tongue. He hummed quietly in appreciation at the unusual treat and jokingly licked at the still outstretched hand in front of him, effectively jostling Eren out of his stupor. 

“Not bad, brat.” Levi admitted, picking a piece from the box himself. Skilled claws easily ripped the morsel in half before moving to hold it in front of Eren’s face. 

Levi was feeding him. _Feeding him!_

He opened his mouth without knowing whether it was actually him doing it, too focused and preoccupied with trying to analyze what the fuck was happening just now. 

Another hum slipped past thin lips as Eren started chewing on the piece of nugget, swirling silver emitting an aura of warm contentment as they gazed at him. Feeding Eren the other half of the morsel he had previously ripped apart Levi’s tail moved to wrap itself around his legs, slithering quietly around his warm flesh but loose enough so that Eren could still move if he wanted to. 

So here he was. Lap full of a sassy merman that was currently feeding him and talking about courtship of all things. Was he still dreaming?

“Nah twerp. You’re fully awake.” Levi chuckled, making Eren realize that he’d actually said the last part out loud. Well fuck. 

His cheeks flushed scarlet once more and Levi’s amused smile did very little to deter the heat from his burning face. Another nugget was presented in front of him, the raven keen on feeding him more of the treat that was actually meant for him. 

“Those are fo- mhhh fooor uu.” 

He managed to finish his garbled sentence around the piece of chicken that Levi had plopped into his mouth the moment he had opened it to speak. 

“Well, then keep on feeding me, _Eren_ ” Levi purred mischievously, knowing exactly what saying Eren’s name like that would do to his poor heart. How said erratically thumping organ still managed to pump his blood somewhat regularly through his body was completely beyond him. A miracle truly going by the amount of heart-attacks the merman was currently giving him. 

When he finally finished chewing and his heart had somewhat stuttered back to a rhythm that could almost be described as calm, he deemed himself ready for the answer to his next question. 

“Uhm… what do you mean by courting, Levi?”

“Asks the brat who basically started nesting in my cave and then brought me food to provide for me.” Levi taunted, his smile growing a fraction as he watched with avid fascination how the gears started turning inside of Eren’s head. 

Nesting? 

“Only courting pairs and mates provide or hunt for each other” The merman explained. “Though you’re probably the first human in a long time who asked for a courtship with one of our kind.” Levi added, eyes glinting with mirth. 

If it was physically possible to combust from a blush then Eren was sure he would have long faded out of existence. Levi’s devilish smirk and playfully gleeful gaze were enough to make his face catch fire once more, not even mentioning the fact that the raven had interpreted his actions in a way that made him believe that Eren was asking for a courtship of all things. 

“I… I didn’t kn- know that. I- I…” 

“Relax twerp, I’m mostly fucking with you.” Levi scoffed. “There was no way you could have known that, so you shouldn’t worry your pretty little head over it.” He assured, trying to placate his racing heart rather unsuccessfully. 

The merman seemed to find great amusement in Eren’s floundering, the little comment having been enough to render Eren into a blushing mess once more. Teal orbs watched thin lips curve upwards into an almost mischievous smile as an amble clawed hand moved from stroking along the length of his thigh to quickly pluck another nugget from the box in his hands. 

“Feeding each other _is_ considered rather intimate, though.” Levi purred, plopping another nugget into his mouth. 

And all Eren could do was chew and stare at the merman like prey warily eyeing the predator that had managed to catch it. He watched dazed as Levi moved to grab another morsel, all the while his thoughts continued to race, his focus jumping from one point to the next while finally landing on the piece of information his hazed brain had only now managed to perceive properly. 

Levi was _mostly_ fucking with him? 

What did that mean?

A confused frown wormed its way onto Eren’s face. So the merman wasn’t averse to it then? Did that mean that he would accept it if Eren asked for a courtship for real? 

And more importantly: Did he want to?

He definitely wanted to get to know Levi better and there was certainly a sufficient amount of attraction there, not to mention the chemistry between them. 

Eren _liked_ talking to Levi. He liked the teasing banter, which in itself was completely odd to him. If anyone else had teased him the way the merman had, he would have exploded right in their face and told them off. Jean could tell you a thing or two about that. To be fair the horseface usually had it coming anyway. 

Was that a yes then?

But he barely even knew Levi! How was it possible for him to be so hopelessly attracted to the merman that he was even considering this after barely knowing him for 24 hours?! 

He couldn’t deny the fact that he was, though. Hopelessly attracted to the creature in front of him. So… then that left him with only one path right? He would just have to get to know the guy better. No use in trying to solve this riddle without having all the clues. 

With renewed determination he looked back up into the swirling depths of Levi’s eyes, noting how the grey orbs were narrowed as if the merman was deep in his own thoughts. Their little staring contest didn’t last long though, not when Eren had a goal in mind. 

“So… how come you actually speak English, Levi? I mean… it’s not like you guys can speak underwater right? So how did you learn it?” he asked curiously. 

“Really, brat?” Levi teased. “ _That’s_ the first thing you’re going to ask me?”

“Well… what else should I have asked then?” Eren challenged stubbornly. 

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe what courting a merman entails?” Levi mocked with a knowing tone, his tail brushing teasingly over Eren’s legs once more. “But… I guess I’ll indulge you for now…” 

“Under water we communicate mostly with clicks, trills and hand-signs. But since our hearing is extremely sensitive, it’s easy to pick up the languages you humans use. Our vocal cords are mostly the same so reciprocating the sounds you make to communicate comes naturally to us“ Levi explained. “I learned most of the languages I’m able to speak from swimming underneath ships or alongside coasts and beaches where you tend to gather.” 

“Oh… wow, that’s amazing!! How many languages do you speak then?” Eren asked excitedly. 

“About 5 or 6.” Levi replied slowly, grey eyes narrowed slightly as if the merman was counting them quietly in his head. 

“So you must have travelled the world then right? I mean you couldn’t have picked up more than one language fluently from one place.” Eren reasoned with a giddy expression on his face. 

“We tend to migrate yes. But that also depends on which subtype of merman or mermaid you are.” Levi added, his fingers busying themselves with feeding Eren another piece of chicken nugget. 

“Mhhh, whuat typs” – “Don’t speak with your mouth full, brat. It’s disgusting.” Levi chastised, but with no real malice in his voice. “I’ll explain. So just sit here and busy yourself with _swallowing_ properly.” 

A new wave of scarlet colored his cheeks upon hearing another innuendo being thrown at him, but he decided to ignore it in favor of happily inhaling all the information Levi was about to give him. 

“There are 3 types of mermen. Tropical mermen, deep-sea mermen and arctic mermen” Levi clarified. “Tropical mermen can as their name suggests be found in the warmer climate zones, they tend to have the most colorful tails and scales. For some unknown reason they like bright and shiny things, so they decorate themselves with shitty necklaces and bracers that catch the light. A bunch of bullshit in my opinion. Only makes predators notice you more easily.”

Making a brief pause to rip another chicken nugget in two, Levi continued “The arctic mermen are used to colder temperatures. Not many of them are left and I’m sure you can tell why. Global warming isn’t really their best friend. They are fierce predators with the sharpest claws and longest teeth among all of us. They are known to eat anything to sustain themselves and have rather pale skin-color and usually white, gray or silver tails.” 

He fed one half of the nugget to Eren while putting the other half into his own mouth, chewing leisurely and making Eren wait on purpose for the description of the final group of mermen – to which Eren was sure Levi belonged. 

“Then there’s the deep-sea mermen. Pretty sure you already figured out to which one I belong to but yes twerp, I’m a deep-sea mer. We prefer colder waters as the temperatures drop the further down you go, but we have surprising adaptability. We can live almost anywhere as long as the water isn’t fucking 30 degrees. We are used to battling for our own survival, and have keen eyesight even in the darkest abyss. Out of all the three subtypes we are definitely the stealthiest ones, closely followed by the arctic mers. Our fins are made for quick under-water maneuvers and we tend to have darker scale-colors that brighten up during mating season.”

“That’s so cool” Eren blurted enthusiastically, his grin widening happily at all the information being handed to him on a silver platter. His eyes briefly darted over to the azure flecks of scales on Levi’s cheekbones that shone brightly in the diminishing sunlight, wondering if they in fact meant that mating season was approaching. He was about to ask, when it dawned on him that he might not be ready to hear the answer to that question. Not to mention that it seemed rather personal. 

Instead he took the initiative of Levi having stopped his explanation to feed the merman another nugget, a giddy smile covering his face while his thoughts continued to race.

So Levi was a deep-sea mer. But then what was he doing so close to the surface? Didn’t it bear more risk being closer to humans? And the raven didn’t seem to be the type to take such risks easily, so there had to be a reason. 

“So why this cave then? Isn’t it far from what you would prefer from having as an ideal living environment?” Eren asked cautiously. 

There was a moment of silence as Levi briefly hesitated with answering, mercury eyes studying him quietly for a few seconds. And just when he was about to tell the merman that he didn’t need to reply to his question if he didn’t want to, Levi let out a low, husky chuckle. “Huh. It’s actually quite ideal you know. Easy underwater access, a nice smooth stone floor perfect for certain _other_ activities and it all comes with the additional bonus of a gorgeous teal-eyed brat.” 

It took him a moment for the words to sink in, but when they finally did he couldn’t help but let out a low groan of the raven’s name. “L-Leviiii…” 

Covering his burning face with his hands, he let out a small whine of embarrassment, for once completely flustered by the flirtatious teasing of the hot merman in front of him. 

The rumbling laughter echoing through the stone-walls was almost enough to make him peek through his closed fingers but the fluttering butterflies in his stomach told him that he’d only embarrass himself further if he gave the raven another opportunity. Better to stay hidden then. As hidden as he could be with Levi’s tail still loosely wrapped around him, a clawed hand still tracing intricate pattern on his thighs and the faint remnants of Levi’s laughter washing over his hands and face. 

“Let’s just say it was a family matter, twerp. I came here to be close to two childhood friends of mine who are about to start a family and Izzy isn’t really a person you easily say no to.” Levi admitted laugher still evident in his voice. 

“Izzy?” Eren dared to ask, eyeing the merman warily trough his fingers. 

“That’s a name, kid.” - “I know that!” Eren replied flustered, only making the all too familiar smirk reappear on Levi’s face. 

“She was my podmate. And before you ask, at a certain age most deep-sea mers that grow up further down form pods to make hunting and survival in general more easy. I personally refused to be in one for the longest times, but like I said before you can’t fucking say no to Izzy. Not when she really wants something. And before she’d stir up the entire fucking ocean with screaming big bro here and big bro there I joined her little pod to have some peace and quiet. Didn’t end up working so well huh.” The merman mused quietly but fondly. 

Despite the outward act of annoyance, Eren could tell that Levi seemed to be rather fond of this Izzy person. He even moved here – not that Eren could complain about that fact. Not when he had gotten the chance of getting to know the merman because of it. 

He was actually surprised by how open Levi was with him, explaining all the details about his race and even going so far as to talk about his friends with him. If his first impression was anything to go by, then the raven seemed to be the exact opposite of the open or sharing-and-caring type. 

“U-uhm… why are you telling me all of this, Levi?” Eren asked, a small frown scrunching his eyebrows together. To not seem rude he hurriedly added “I mean, I know I asked, but uhm… what I meant was why are you being so open with me? Didn’t you say that you don’t particularly like humans… so uhm… I’m just wondering… why?”

“But why, Eren? We are courting; shouldn’t we tell each other _everything_?” Levi purred, voice heavily laced with sarcasm, one eyebrow arched perfectly and waiting for the response that Eren was sure to deliver. 

“Screw you!” Eren exclaimed half-heartedly, trying to bump the merman’s shoulder playfully. But Levi’s reflexes were far superior to his own and before he knew it, he found his wrist quickly captured in a clawed hand that slowly pulled him closer. “Careful, brat. We wouldn’t want to have to drag you out of here for the 5th time in a row now, would we?” Levi teased, his voice having dropped another octave into the deep husky tone that sent a shiver down Eren’s spine and made the butterflies go haywire in his stomach.

Fuck he was _so close_. 

Only mere inches separated them now; their noses almost brushing against each other and even if Eren had wanted to move away, his legs were still in the firm grip of Levi’s tail that seemed to be intent on not letting him budge an inch. 

He couldn’t speak. His voice was all dried up, his throat parched and the only thing that seemed to be able to quench his thirst was the merman’s lips on his own. 

He stared into the swirling depths of icy blue mixed with enticing silver and watched as the color faded back to a thin rim at the edge of the fully blown pupils that were observing him carefully. 

The distance between them was reduced by another inch as Levi slowly tugged him closer, his breath hitching as his eyes wandered down to the thin lips that were curled upwards into a leisure smirk. 

He wanted them on his own. He needed them on his own. Needed to feel them, taste them. 

Chancing one last glance into the blown depths of Levi’s eyes he closed his own and leaned in, silently hoping that for once the merman wouldn’t move away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention, thanks so much for all the positive feedback i got for these 3 chapters, it means the world to me and brightens up my day. Whenever i feel down i just read through the comments which never fail to put a smile on my face, so thank you all so so much <3

**Author's Note:**

> btw sorry for the shitty pun with the title i just couldn't come up with anything and then i thought about this and it works out with what i have in store (also i just suck at titles so yeeah...)


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